Osceola balks at $98 million price tag for Nationals move

Proposal: County room tax, state incentives would pay for new stadium

Jul. 15, 2013

FLORIDA TODAY file

Washington Nationals principal owner Mark Lerner pitched a plan to Osceola County on Monday to move his team’s spring training operations from Viera to Kissimmee.

But the Osceola County Commission balked at paying for the proposed $98 million stadium for the Nationals, primarily using county room tax revenue, in combination with state incentives.

Commissioners initially voted down the plan, 3-2, but later unanimously agreed to reconsider the issue at their Aug. 19 meeting.

The commission action brings into question where the Nationals will wind up for spring training if they move forward with plans to leave Viera after the 2014 or 2015 season.

A majority of the Osceola County Commission was uncomfortable with committing so much money to the stadium project, even though county staff projected that having the Nationals in Kissimmee would be a major economic boost to the area, both in tourism revenue and the creation of jobs.

Lerner and another Nationals official tried to sell the Osceola County Commission on the project.

“We expect to be very much in evidence at our new home,” Lerner told commissioners, in his first public statement on the issue. “We’ll be a great community partner for years to come.”

Osceola County and Nationals officials on Monday said they have been in private discussions since fall. Negotiations intensified during the last three months.

The Osceola County Tourist Development Council last week voted 4-2 to support the project. But some council members and other tourism-industry representatives were concerned about using so much tourism tax money to build the stadium.

They fear it could hurt hotels and Osceola County tourist attractions by pulling money away from tourism marketing.

By building a stadium to attract a major league team for spring training, Osceola would qualify for $20 million from the state, under an incentive program the Florida Legislature approved this year.

(For more on this story, see FLORIDA TODAY and floridatoday.com on Tuesday)